.TH RM 1 "GNU File Utilities" "FSF" \" -*- nroff -*-
.SH NAME
rm \- remove files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B rm
[\-dfirvR] [\-\-directory] [\-\-force] [\-\-interactive] [\-\-recursive]
[\-\-help] [\-\-version] [\-\-verbose] name...
.SH DESCRIPTION
This documentation is no longer being maintained and may be inaccurate
or incomplete.  The Texinfo documentation is now the authoritative source.
.PP
This manual page
documents the GNU version of
.BR rm .
.B rm
removes each specified file.  By default, it does not remove
directories.
.P
If a file is unwritable, the standard input is a tty, and
the \fI\-f\fR or \fI\-\-force\fR option is not given,
.B rm
prompts the user for whether to remove the file.  If the response
does not begin with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.
.LP
GNU
.BR rm ,
like every program that uses the getopt function to parse its
arguments, lets you use the
.I \-\-
option to indicate that all following arguments are non-options.  To
remove a file called `\-f' in the current directory, you could type
either
.RS
rm \-\- \-f
.RE
or
.RS
rm ./\-f
.RE
The Unix
.B rm
program's use of a single `\-' for this purpose predates the
development of the getopt standard syntax.
.SS OPTIONS
.TP
.I "\-d, \-\-directory"
Remove directories with `unlink' instead of `rmdir', and don't require
a directory to be empty before trying to unlink it.  Only works for
the super-user.  Because unlinking a directory causes any files in the
deleted directory to become unreferenced, it is wise to
.B fsck
the filesystem after doing this.
.TP
.I "\-f, \-\-force"
Ignore nonexistent files and never prompt the user.
.TP
.I "\-i, \-\-interactive"
Prompt whether to remove each file.  If the response does not begin
with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.
.TP
.I "\-r, \-R, \-\-recursive"
Remove the contents of directories recursively.
.TP
.I "\-v, \-\-verbose"
Print the name of each file before removing it.
.TP
.I "\-\-help"
Print a usage message on standard output and exit successfully.
.TP
.I "\-\-version"
Print version information on standard output then exit successfully.
